it’s His story…

So, like I said yesterday… I LOVE Sundays!  Today was awesome and I learned so much.  Here are some highlights…

- The Vine rOcKs!  God is doing some AMAZING things through this church and the people who are a part of it.
Check out the new welcome video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_nrlwDvAgg

- Last week we didn’t have church and I felt so lost all day… you know that feeling like you are supposed to be somewhere but you aren’t?  I woke up worried because I had slept past my usual 6am.  And even the family I nanny for asked me if everything was okay because they weren’t used to seeing me at the house on Sundays!

- I sooooo missed the kidz!  I love seeing their faces every week and just hearing about their lives.  I was standing at the door to my room and all of a sudden felt some arms wrap around my leg!  I was getting a hug from a lil cutie
and things like that are priceless to me!!!

- DW is talking about Resolutions and started with finances.  We can’t serve God wholeheartedly if we are a slave to money.  If you have debt, you are a slave.  Jesus has shown me freedom from things I never thought I could get away from, so I have no doubt I can do this- I still have some work to do to get debt-free!  But you’d better believe that I will be!

- I can do everything through Christ and nothing apart from Him!!!  I’ve tried living my life without Him and I got myself into the mess I used to call life… now I am giving everything to Him and am really living a true life!

- I am so thankful for The Vine.  It’s amazing to me that God uses me in the way that He does… I’ve done nothing to deserve this!  I love the team, the people, and the kidz and there is no where in the world that I’d rather be! 

Well, here it is… only 3 weeks or so after I committed to myself that I would write every night and I have been slacking.  Majorly.  I guess when you slip on holding yourself accountable, it’s easy to get by.  I made the commitment because I wanted to share what God is doing in my life and you’d think nothing has happened in the past two weeks… wrong!  The last two weeks have been incredible… and exhausting, thus being the reason I haven’t been writing.  Funny thing is, a friend emailed me tonight and told me I needed to write more often.  I couldn’t agree more!  Everyday I know what I’m going to write about (sometimes I have to pick because so much happened in that one day), I just need to make sure that I am intentional in taking the time to do it.  Thanks for holding me accountable!
SO, my plan over the next few days is to catch up- write what has been happening and cheat and date it when it actually happened.  SOOOOO many good things have been going on, I just needed to relax when I could. 
So, tomorrow is my favorite day of the week… I wish every day was Sunday.  I get to do what I love best- worship with others, hear an incredible message, and love on kidz!  How did I get so incredibly blessed??!

I knew Madison before I started watching her and her brother Hunter.  Rebecca was their nanny for 4 years, since Madison was born.  I used to hear cute stories about her and silly things that she had said.
Today on the kitchen table, a plastic sunflower from a cupcake was sitting there.  Rebecca had told me a year and a half ago (6 months before I met Madison) that Madison had given her an identical plastic sunflower in case Rebecca ever wanted to talk to Madison, she could just use the sunflower.  Talk into it and I can hear you, she told Becca.  How cute?!
A few minutes ago, I told Madison that I knew what the plastic sunflower meant.  She got wide-eyed and said, “You do?” I told her that Becca had told me about it before we had ever even met and told her what I knew.  Huge smile.
Which got me thinking… isn’t that Jesus?  He knows everything about us from day one… well, even BEFORE day one.  When He died on the cross, He knew my name.  He knew who I’d be and what I’d become… He knew it all… EVERYTHING about me.  The number of hairs on my head… there’s no way I could even know that.  All kinds of things that I don’t even know about myself.  And that was before I knew Him or even wanted to know Him (so sad).  That’s how personal He is.  Um, AMAZING!
Growing up, we occasionally went to church and I had gone to church with friends at times.  I had taken communion before but it was different once I knew what it meant and how it was meant for me.  This past Labor Day I was at a conference and we received communion on the beach in Destin.  Picture it- an amazing evening just before sunset, looking at God’s creation- the beach, the ocean, the setting sun.  The few days leading to this were full of moments that challenged me, got me closer to God, and getting up each morning for sunrise… just me, God, and His creation all around me.  It was so beautiful and totally made a difference in opening my  heart and mind to hear and see God that weekend.  Over 900 single adults walked silently to the beach to witness baptisms in the ocean and to worship our most powerful God.  And then it happened… as I walked up to receive my communion, the guy asked my name.  “Lindsay, the body of Christ broken for you…” WOW.  Those words brought tears to my eyes.  I knew Jesus died to save us all from death to give us eternal life and so that we could have a relationship with our heavenly Father.  But when I heard my name, my own name, it was so personal and so real that Jesus died for me!  Me!  Say that out loud… “__________, the body of Christ was broken for you.”  Jesus loves each one of us so incredibly much, He died an awful death for us… for you.  Isn’t life worth living for Him and Him alone??  I want my life to be a story about Him and how amazing He is… what He has done for me… He has given me life and everlasting joy! 
A friend of mine said to my mom a few weeks ago, “Lindsay’s really happy, isn’t she?”  Now that I know my Savior, I can’t think of anything that could bring more joy to my life.  He taught me to breathe for the first time in my life… at the age of 24.  I had no idea what life was about or what it could be until I met Him.

Do you really understand that Jesus knew you before you met Him?  Do you realize what Jesus did for you?